Jack Kingston Congressman Jack Kingston announced that the City of Savannah is the recipient of a series of grants from U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The city will receive a community development block grant (CDBG), an emergency shelter grant (ESG) and a HOME grant to support affordable housing.

“The money enables the city to give continued support to the agencies in the area that support that mission which is even more important during this tough economic period”,Congressman Kingston said.

The CDBG grant is $2,707,777 and will cover an umbrella of community wide projects to aid poverty reduction, youth services and funding for agencies that support low income families. The ESG grant is $120,231 and will fund agencies within the city that provide services for the homeless.

The HOME grant is $1,252,597 and will assist the city in creating affordable housing for lowincome families.

“These grant funds will help provide some of the most basic needs of our citizens that we couldn’t otherwise provide during this tough economy,” said Savannah City Manager Michael Brown. “This is indicative of a very effective local and federal partnership and we truly thank Congressman Kingston for his assistance.”

The CDBG program is designed to provide annual grants to states and local units of government to develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and by expanding economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate income persons.

The ESG program provides annual grants to state, local and private entities to improve the quality and number of emergency homeless shelters.

The HOME program helps to expand the supply of decent, affordable housing to low- and very low-income families by providing grants to state and local governments to fund housing programs that meet local needs and priorities.